Chapter 1 - Fire at the Observatory Door
Savannah never planned to enter the observatory alone.
She had only wanted two minutes with Rhett before the private dinner announcement became permanent—before the last of the wealthy guests in the ballroom began raising crystal glasses to a future that should never have belonged to Celeste.
But the moment Savannah stepped through the arched doorway connecting the ballroom to the private observatory, Celeste and Gavin were already waiting.
That was the first thing Savannah understood.
This was not chance.
This was an ambush.
The observatory glowed with warm afternoon light mixed with firelight from the modern fireplace. The polished stone floor reflected the tall silver telescope stands and the dark glass of the huge astronomical display screen. Somewhere beyond the doorway, music and soft conversation still floated from the dinner party. But in the observatory itself, the air felt closed and dangerous.
Celeste crossed the room first, diamond ring flashing.
“You should have stayed gone,” she hissed.
Before Savannah could answer, Gavin grabbed one of her arms and Celeste seized the other. They shoved her hard toward the fireplace.
Savannah twisted instinctively, protecting her six-month pregnant belly with both hands. The back hem of her pale pink maternity dress brushed too close to the fire. A quick flare of orange raced through the fabric.
Savannah gasped and dropped sideways to the floor.
For one wild second, Celeste stepped back in shock.
Savannah smothered the small flame with her palms against the cold stone, breathing hard, heart pounding. The burn stayed at her fingertips and the scorched edge of the dress. Non-graphic. Painful. Manageable. The baby safe.
Then something slipped free from the folds of her dress.
A sealed ultrasound photo.
It slid across the stone and came to rest near the fireplace.
Celeste froze.
Her face changed so abruptly that Savannah knew at once this was what she had been afraid of all along.
Gavin lunged for it.
Savannah moved faster, grabbing the photo just as footsteps sounded from the ballroom.
Heavy, certain footsteps.
Rhett.
He burst through the doorway in his charcoal suit and burgundy shirt, his expression already sharpened by the commotion. He took in the scene in one sweep—Savannah on the floor, Celeste standing pale, Gavin halfway crouched, the scorched hem of Savannah’s dress.
Then his eyes met Savannah’s.
She didn’t waste the moment.
“Rhett…” she said, holding the ultrasound to her chest. “The baby is yours.”
He stopped as if the floor had vanished beneath him.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then the partially scorched ultrasound print slipped from Savannah’s trembling hand.
Rhett bent and picked it up.
He saw Savannah’s name.
The date of the scan.
The gestational age.
He looked at it once, then again, like reality was rearranging itself in front of him.
Beside him, Gavin panicked first.
“You said she’d never come here.”
Rhett slowly lifted his head.
Not toward Savannah.
Toward Gavin.
Then toward Celeste.
In that instant, something far more dangerous than anger entered his face.
Understanding.
He realized they hadn’t just been surprised by Savannah’s arrival.
They had been trying to make sure he never saw her at all.
Gavin took one step back.
Rhett moved.
Gavin tried to flee, then swung before Rhett could block him. Rhett dodged and drove one powerful right punch into Gavin’s chest.
CRASH.
Gavin flew backward into the telescope mounts. The equipment collapsed around him in a metallic tangle. He went down dazed and breathless.
Celeste lunged toward Savannah, trying to snatch the ultrasound image before Rhett could fully process it. Rhett stepped between them and struck Celeste with a powerful palm blow.
She spun backward into the astronomical display screen.
CRASH.
The huge panel tipped and collapsed behind her.
Savannah stayed safely behind Rhett.
The room went silent except for the muffled sound of guests in the ballroom beginning to notice something was wrong.
Rhett crossed to Celeste, bent down, and stripped the diamond engagement ring from her finger.
Then he stood, holding the ring in one hand and the scorched ultrasound in the other.
“You no longer have any claim to this,” he said coldly. “And you’re about to be wiped out.”
For the first time, Celeste looked truly afraid.
Not of losing the wedding.
Of what Rhett might already be starting to understand.
Then Rhett noticed the way Gavin—still stunned among the fallen telescope stands—was staring at Celeste.
Not with sympathy.
With fear.
And before Celeste could say a single word in her defense, Rhett turned sharply toward her brother.
May you like
Because suddenly, it was obvious this had started long before Savannah walked into the observatory.
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